scholarly journals THE LUMINOSITY EVOLUTION OVER THE EQUITEMPORAL SURFACES IN THE PROMPT EMISSION OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1919-1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARLO LUCIANO BIANCO ◽  
FRANCESCO ALESSANDRO MASSUCCI ◽  
REMO RUFFINI

Due to the ultrarelativistic velocity of the expanding "fireshell" (Lorentz gamma factor γ ~ 102-103), photons emitted at the same time from the fireshell surface do not reach the observer at the same arrival time. In interpreting Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) it is crucial to determine the properties of the EQuiTemporal Surfaces (EQTSs): the locus of points which are source of radiation reaching the observer at the same arrival time. In the current literature this analysis is performed only in the latest phases of the afterglow. Here we study the distribution of the GRB bolometric luminosity over the EQTSs, with special attention to the prompt emission phase. We analyze as well the temporal evolution of the EQTS apparent size in the sky. We use the analytic solutions of the equations of motion of the fireshell and the corresponding analytic expressions of the EQTSs which have been presented in recent works and which are valid for both the fully radiative and the adiabatic dynamics. We find the novel result that at the beginning of the prompt emission the most luminous regions of the EQTSs are the ones closest to the line of sight. On the contrary, in the late prompt emission and in the early afterglow phases the most luminous EQTS regions are the ones closest to the boundary of the visible region. This transition in the emitting region may lead to specific observational signatures, i.e. an anomalous spectral evolution, in the rising part or at the peak of the prompt emission. We find as well an expression for the apparent radius of the EQTS in the sky, valid in both the fully radiative and the adiabatic regimes. Such considerations are essential for the theoretical interpretation of the prompt emission phase of GRBs.

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asaf Pe’er

In recent years, our understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) prompt emission has been revolutionized, due to a combination of new instruments, new analysis methods, and novel ideas. In this review, I describe the most recent observational results and current theoretical interpretation. Observationally, a major development is the rise of time resolved spectral analysis. These led to (I) identification of a distinguished high energy component, with GeV photons often seen at a delay and (II) firm evidence for the existence of a photospheric (thermal) component in a large number of bursts. These results triggered many theoretical efforts aimed at understanding the physical conditions in the inner jet regions. I highlight some areas of active theoretical research. These include (I) understanding the role played by magnetic fields in shaping the dynamics of GRB outflow and spectra; (II) understanding the microphysics of kinetic and magnetic energy transfer, namely, accelerating particle to high energies in both shock waves and magnetic reconnection layers; (III) understanding how subphotospheric energy dissipation broadens the “Planck” spectrum; and (IV) geometrical light aberration effects. I highlight some of these efforts and point towards gaps that still exist in our knowledge as well as promising directions for the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 922 (2) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Qing-Wen Tang ◽  
Kai Wang ◽  
Liang Li ◽  
Ruo-Yu Liu

Abstract A prompt extra power-law (PL) spectral component that usually dominates the spectral energy distribution below tens of keV or above ∼10 MeV has been discovered in some bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, its origin is still unclear. In this paper, we present a systematic analysis of 13 Fermi short GRBs, as of 2020 August, with contemporaneous keV–MeV and GeV detections during the prompt emission phase. We find that the extra PL component is a ubiquitous spectral feature for short GRBs, showing up in all 13 analyzed GRBs. The PL indices are mostly harder than −2.0, which may be well reproduced by considering the electromagnetic cascade induced by ultrarelativistic protons or electrons accelerated in the prompt emission phase. The average flux of these extra PL components positively correlates with that of the main spectral components, which implies they may share the same physical origin.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 905-910
Author(s):  
R. Moradi ◽  
R. Ruffini ◽  
C. L. Bianco ◽  
Y.-C. Chen ◽  
M. Karlica ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (4) ◽  
pp. 5986-5992
Author(s):  
Nikhil Sarin ◽  
Paul D Lasky ◽  
Gregory Ashton

ABSTRACT The spin-down energy of millisecond magnetars has been invoked to explain X-ray afterglow observations of a significant fraction of short and long gamma-ray bursts. Here, we extend models previously introduced in the literature, incorporating radiative losses with the spin-down of a magnetar central engine through an arbitrary braking index. Combining this with a model for the tail of the prompt emission, we show that our model can better explain the data than millisecond-magnetar models without radiative losses or those that invoke spin-down solely through vacuum dipole radiation. We find that our model predicts a subset of X-ray flares seen in some gamma-ray bursts. We can further explain the diversity of X-ray plateaus by altering the radiative efficiency and measure the braking index of newly born millisecond magnetars. We measure the braking index of GRB061121 as $n=4.85^{+0.11}_{-0.15}$ suggesting the millisecond-magnetar born in this gamma-ray burst spins down predominantly through gravitational-wave emission.


2017 ◽  
Vol 607 ◽  
pp. A121 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Bernardini ◽  
G. Ghirlanda ◽  
S. Campana ◽  
P. D’Avanzo ◽  
J.-L. Atteia ◽  
...  

The delay in arrival times between high and low energy photons from cosmic sources can be used to test the violation of the Lorentz invariance (LIV), predicted by some quantum gravity theories, and to constrain its characteristic energy scale EQG that is of the order of the Planck energy. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and blazars are ideal for this purpose thanks to their broad spectral energy distribution and cosmological distances: at first order approximation, the constraints on EQG are proportional to the photon energy separation and the distance of the source. However, the LIV tiny contribution to the total time delay can be dominated by intrinsic delays related to the physics of the sources: long GRBs typically show a delay between high and low energy photons related to their spectral evolution (spectral lag). Short GRBs have null intrinsic spectral lags and are therefore an ideal tool to measure any LIV effect. We considered a sample of 15 short GRBs with known redshift observed by Swift and we estimate a limit on EQG ≳ 1.5 × 1016 GeV. Our estimate represents an improvement with respect to the limit obtained with a larger (double) sample of long GRBs and is more robust than the estimates on single events because it accounts for the intrinsic delay in a statistical sense.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S290) ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
Liang Li ◽  
En-Wei Liang ◽  
He Gao ◽  
Bing Zhang

AbstractWell-sampled optical lightcurves of 146 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are compiled from literature. We identify possible emission components based on our empirical fits and present statistical analysis for these components. We find that the flares are related to prompt emission, suggesting that they could have the same origin in different episodes. The shallow decay segment is not correlated with prompt gamma-rays. It likely signals a long-lasting injected wind from GRB central engines. Early after onset peak is closely related with prompt emission. The ambient medium density profile is likely n ∝ r−1. No correlation between the late re-brightening bump and prompt gamma-rays or the onset bump is found. They may be from another jet component.


2010 ◽  
Vol 410 (1) ◽  
pp. L47-L51 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Ghirlanda ◽  
G. Ghisellini ◽  
L. Nava ◽  
D. Burlon

2020 ◽  
Vol 492 (3) ◽  
pp. 3622-3630
Author(s):  
Lin Lan ◽  
Rui-Jingi Lu ◽  
Hou-Jun Lü ◽  
Jun Shen ◽  
Jared Rice ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Short gamma-ray bursts (GRB) with extended emission (EE) that are composed of an initial short hard spike followed by a long-lasting EE are thought to comprise a sucategory of short GRBs. The narrow energy band available during the Swift era, combined with a lack of spectral information, prevented the discovery of the intrinsic properties of these events. In this paper, we perform a systematic search of short GRBs with EE using all available Fermi/GBM data. The search identified 26 GBM-detected short GRBs with EE that are similar to GRB 060614 observed by Swift/BAT. We focus on investigating the spectral and temporal properties of both the hard spike and the EE component of all 26 GRBs, and explore differences and possible correlations between them. We find that while the peak energy (Ep) of the hard spikes is slightly harder than that of the EE, their fluences are comparable. The harder Ep seems to correspond to a larger fluence and peak flux, with a large scatter for both the hard spike and the EE component. Moreover, the Ep of both the hard spike and the EE are compared with other short GRBs. Finally, we also compare the properties of GRB 170817A with those of short GRBs with EE and find no significant statistical differences between them. We find that GRB 170817A has the lowest Ep, probably because it is off-axis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A105 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Burgess ◽  
M. Kole ◽  
F. Berlato ◽  
J. Greiner ◽  
G. Vianello ◽  
...  

Context. Simultaneousγ-ray measurements ofγ-ray burst spectra and polarization offer a unique way to determine the underlying emission mechanism(s) in these objects, as well as probing the particle acceleration mechanism(s) that lead to the observedγ-ray emission.Aims. We examine the jointly observed data from POLAR andFermi-GBM of GRB 170114A to determine its spectral and polarization properties, and seek to understand the emission processes that generate these observations. We aim to develop an extensible and statistically sound framework for these types of measurements applicable to other instruments.Methods. We leveraged the existing3MLanalysis framework to develop a new analysis pipeline for simultaneously modeling the spectral and polarization data. We derived the proper Poisson likelihood forγ-ray polarization measurements in the presence of background. The developed framework is publicly available for similar measurements with otherγ-ray polarimeters. The data are analyzed within a Bayesian probabilistic context and the spectral data from both instruments are simultaneously modeled with a physical, numerical synchrotron code.Results. The spectral modeling of the data is consistent with a synchrotron photon model as has been found in a majority of similarly analyzed single-pulse gamma-ray bursts. The polarization results reveal a slight trend of growing polarization in time reaching values of ∼30% at the temporal peak of the emission. We also observed that the polarization angle evolves with time throughout the emission. These results suggest a synchrotron origin of the emission but further observations of many GRBs are required to verify these evolutionary trends. Furthermore, we encourage the development of time-resolved polarization models for the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts as the current models are not predictive enough to enable a full modeling of our current data.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S324) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Diego Götz ◽  
Stefano Covino

AbstractWe review the current observational and theoretical status of the polarization measurements of Gamma-ray Bursts at all wavelengths. Gamma-Ray Bursts are thought to be produced by an ultra-relativistic jet, possibly powered by a black hole. One of the most important open point is the composition of the jet: the energy may be carried out from the central source either as kinetic energy (of baryons and/or pairs), or in electromagnetic form (Poynting flux). The polarization properties are expected to help disentangling main energy carrier. The prompt emission and afterglow polarization are also a powerful diagnostic of the jet geometry.


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